Isaac leaned forward, his fingers tapping the table.
"What exactly is it?"
Without answering, Professor Catherine reached into her spatial ring and pulled out a large folded map.
She laid it across the table, smoothing out the creases with care.
"Gather around, all of you. It’s time you understand our neighbors."
Everyone shifted closer, pulling their chairs in.
Isaac stood beside her, watching as she pointed at the center of the map.
"This," she said, marking a spot with her finger, "is our city. Fortified City 50."
She then drew a circle around the area.
"Everything beyond this circle is the beginning of the wilderness. Monsters start appearing here. These zones are the borders we never cross without heavy escort."
Her pen moved again, this time marking several rough regions on the west and south sides.
"Here and here: these are monster regions. This one in the west is home to the Ashfang Tribe. They’re a species of intelligent ogres. Their strength and numbers have grown in recent years."
She tapped another mark near the south. "This is where the Crawling Serpents live. They’ve spread toward the river paths. We think there’s another tribe to the east, but we can’t confirm it yet."
"Why not?" Isaac asked.
"Because monsters have sharper senses than most species. Even if we try to sneak in, they sense our presence long before we get close. We lose drones, scouts, and even spirit familiars if we get careless."
Professor Catherine then pointed at three distant circles drawn across the map.
"These are our neighboring human fortified cities. Here, to the northwest, is Fortified City 22. To the east, Fortified City 62. And here, to the south, Fortified City 89."
She paused and glanced at everyone before continuing.
"The nearest one to us is Fortified City 62, about five days away if we travel without stopping and face no danger. The farthest is Fortified City 22, which lies seven days to the northwest."
Isaac frowned. "That’s a long distance. Even for a fast vehicle."
"It is," Professor Catherine agreed. "And that’s assuming we don’t run into problems. In reality, no one makes that trip in less than ten days unless they’re prepared for heavy combat."
She drew another mark on the southwest corner of the map. "The recently rediscovered Fortified City 89 is here."
Isaac leaned closer.
"Do you remember the mist-like monster that attacked Fortified City 89 before the naga attack?" she asked.
"I do," Isaac muttered.
"It came from here." She marked a point far to the west and circled a mountain range. "The Mourning Frost Mountains. That’s where the source lies."
She tapped another distant mark far west, but nearer than Mourning Frost Mountains, on the edge of the map.
"This is Fortified City 875. It belongs to the Eltari species. That’s where all routes from the west start. From their city, we pass through several relay points to reach the Mourning Frost Mountains."
Isaac blinked. "Eltari? Aren’t they one of the species that come to trade in Fortified City 22?"
Professor Catherine nodded again. "Exactly."
"So what’s the problem? I get you want us to know the geography, but what’s the point of all this now?"
She looked up from the map, meeting his eyes. "Because depending on how things go, not just our city—but all human cities could fall."
The room went silent.
"What?" Isaac said after a moment. "All of them?"
Professor Catherine’s tone lowered. "Do you remember how monsters have been leaving the Mourning Frost Mountains recently? The mist-like monster we fought in Fortified City 89 was a part of that migration."
Isaac nodded slowly. "Yeah, I remember."
She picked up a red pen and drew several circles near their city’s southern border.
"Sinkhole Worms from Mourning Frost Mountains have appeared here and made their nest. They are huge, the size of buildings. And they dig just as big tunnels underground."
Isaac’s eyes narrowed. "Sinkhole Worms? I thought they were only found deep in the western regions."
"They were. But they’ve migrated. The Eltari knew about it. They made sure these worms didn’t come near their city. But they didn’t warn us."
"Why?" Isaac asked.
"Because they think we are not worth their time, and what happens to us is not their problem," she said coldly.
Isaac frowned at that.
While he agreed to their statement, it wouldn’t have hurt them to warn the human cities.
He decided to keep this fact in his mind, and teach them a lesson in the future.
Professor Catherine continued. "We’ve confirmed that the Sinkhole Worms have already made their nests deep underground, close to our city.
"The dirt on the ground near their tunnels is a clear sign, it’s loose, moist, and sometimes it sinks when stepped on. They’ve been tunneling quietly for weeks."
She traced a line on the map between Fortified City 22 and Fortified City 89. "This is where they’re nesting right now. Right below this region."
Isaac leaned forward. "That close?"
"Yes. Normally, their digging only causes partial cave-ins or minor sinkholes. Dangerous, yes, but not enough to destroy an entire city. But..."
"But what?" Isaac pressed.
Professor Catherine drew several lines over the same region, then shaded the top with a blue marker.
"We observed the movement of clouds above this area. Based on the data, it’s going to rain here tomorrow morning. At around 11 a.m."
She set down the marker and looked up.
"And you all know what kind of rain we have to deal with."
Isaac’s expression darkened. "The red rain."
She nodded. "Yes. The one that mutates living beings. Once the rainwater seeps into the ground and reaches the Sinkhole Worms, it will mutate them."
No one spoke for a moment.
The faint hum of the lights filled the silence.
Professor Catherine’s voice softened. "When monsters are mutated by red rain, they lose reason. They go berserk and start attacking anything nearby. The Sinkhole Worms would likely go straight toward the surface—toward us—or toward Fortified City 22, and sink our entire cities."
Isaac pressed his lips into a thin line. "That’s bad."
"Worse than bad," she said. "Mutated monsters crave red rain. Once they’re exposed to it, they keep searching for it, no matter what. It’s like... an addict chasing a drug."
He nodded slowly, his jaw tightening. "So even if they attack Fortified City 22 first, they’ll eventually come for us."
"Exactly," Professor Catherine said. "Our city is going to face rainfall day after tomorrow due to Quest. When the mutated worms realize the rain has appeared here, they’ll come."
Isaac stared at the map in silence.
His eyes moved over the lines and circles, trying to process everything.
"So when the red rain falls there tomorrow. the Sinkhole worms will mutate. Then a day later, when it rains here, they’ll come for us."
"That’s right," Professor Catherine said, her tone quiet but firm.
Isaac’s mind started to race for solutions.
My Sovereign of Land skill can sense deep underground... maybe I can find where they are.
He frowned. "If I can locate the Sinkhole Worms, is there a way we can attack them from above?"
He thought about using his roots to pull them up, but then dismissed the idea.
His roots pulled things into the ground, not out of it.
And since the worms were already deep underground, that plan wouldn’t work.
"Sinkhole Worms are large, but they’re not strong. A single human champion could kill one easily. The problem is..."
She paused and looked around the room.
"They know they’re weak. That’s why they never come to the surface. Unless they do, we can’t kill them."
Isaac swore under his breath.
This wasn’t a problem of power.
It was a problem of situation.
They were all stronger than the worms by a wide margin, but none of that mattered if the enemies refused to come out.